Sunday, February 17, 2013

The Bistro Restaurant at Cliff House

(The first EweToob video should be self-explanatory from the opening joke/title above. The second one is just to signify that Spring Training officially starts this week with actual games being played.)

To close out my 2013 Breakfastary Rotation Spring Training Try-outs I ended up at The Bistro Restaurant at Cliff House (see last 'blog-entry from November 3rd, 2012; as always, good food, but a redundantly reiterative name: "There sure is a lot of dirt in the Sahara Desert."; "I am giving you advance notice."; "It was the final outcome."; etc.) this morning. I was happy to find out that they actually open up at 8:30am on Sunday. I have been going there for over twenty years now and just figured that one out (Monday through Saturday they open at 9:00am). It was a perfect day to head to the beach for a finebreakfastary repast. The Sun was out and shining brightly, and it was pretty clear all along Ocean Beach, just not clear enough to see all the way to the Farallon Islands[2].

I was seated at a table by a wall of photographs that I had previously documented, so, after ordering, I wandered down the wall to a column that I hadn't photographed before.

Today's Hollywoodland Wall of Autographed Photos Interlude:

(Picture 1, top to bottom and left to right)

Gene Tunney (undefeated World Heavyweight Champion from 1926-1928); ???Geraldine Fitzgerald (best know for "Wuthering Heights", "Dark Victory", and as Dudley Moore's rich grandmother in "Arthur"; and she was also the great aunt of Irish actress Tara Fitzgerald); Richard Burton (best known as being Mr. Liz Taylor #5)

(Picture 2, top to bottom and left to right)

???; Wendy Barrie (best known for "The Hound of the Baskervilles" and "It's a Small World" with Spencer Tracy; and her godfather was J.M. Barrie of Peter Pan fame, which is probably where she adopted her stage name)Joan Fontaine (best know for "The Women", "Rebecca", "Jane Eyre", and 1941 Best Actress Academy Award winner for "Suspicion"; she was also the sister of Olivia de Havilland); Gene Autry (singing cowboy, best known for "Back in the Saddle Again" and some silly Christmas song about a caribou with a nasal problem; he was also the original owner of the Los Ångeles Ångels/California Ångels/Anaheim Ångels/Los Angeles Ångels of Anaheim Angels)

(Picture 3, top to bottom and left to right)

Charles Boyer (some Frenchy actor best known for "Love Affair", "Gaslight", and "Fanny"); Loretta Young (best known for "The Loretta Young Show" on TeeVee and 1948 Best Actress Academy Award winner for "The Farmer's Daughter"; of note, she also starred with Charles Boyer in "Caravan")Fred MacMurray (best known for "My Three Sons" on TeeVee and in the movies for "Double Indemnity", "The Shaggy Dog", and "The Absent-Minded Professor"); William "Hopalong Cassidy" BoydBenjamin Kubelsky (best known for the popular radio and TeeVee shows, coincidentally enough, called "The Benny Kubelsky Show"); Rosalind Russell (best known for "His Girl Friday" and "Auntie Mame"; also of note, she starred in "The Women" with Joan Fontaine)

I am once again throwing out this offer to treat anyone that can fill in any of the "???s" with correct names to all the free World-Famous, Most Excellent Popovers(!) that you can eat (my treat even). (Okay, Jim, so I am remiss and am just finally mentioning the World-Famous, Most Excellent Popovers(!), but if you don't like it you can start your own damned 'blogs!) Here is a little trick: if you want to view each picture a little larger just click on it and it should come up as a "Full-Screen" shot.

The Bistro Restaurant doesn't offer that many different things for breakfast, and less even for stupid vegetarians, but who really cares? Have you ever heard me mention their World-Famous, Most Excellent Popovers(!)? Those alone are worth the trip to the end of the World (well, literally "the end of San Francisco"). I probably have had each of their breakfast dishes several times over already, so I just ordered Sautéed Vegetable Scramble ~ Scrambled Eggs, Red Peppers, Tomatoes, Scallions, Button Mushrooms, Melted Goat Cheese.

This came with three World-Famous, Most Excellent Popovers(!) today; that is usually all I can eat, anyway, but I have had as many as four or five in a single basket all to myself. This is a decent enough scramble. The red peppers and tomatoes have a bit of a char on them, so they are either roasted ahead of time or just grilled before adding them to the scrambled mess, which is a nice flavour enhancer. The goat cheese is always creamy and melted throughout, too. My one minor quibble would be that they always go a little light on the side of potatoes (there were just four halves this morning), but that is okay as they more than make up for it with their World-Famous, Most Excellent Popovers(!). Have I mentioned their World-Famous, Most Excellent Popovers(!) yet?

Today's side of fruits: strawberry, grapes, cantaloupe, and honeydew melon.

Knowing full well that the Bistro Restaurant only has as condimentary supplements Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce(the standard red), I came prepared and used some of my own Spicymonkey Raspberry & chipotle ketchup (Thanks, Cindy & Greg!) on the potatoes, and a little Cajohns Fiery Foods Oaxacan Hot Sauce (Thanks, Brian!) on the scramble.

1. Any groans or grimaces at that pun can be directed at an old Air Force buddy of mine, Dave Durkin. I am not sure if he came up with that one or not, but I read it on his defacedbook page first.

I suppose that joke would have been a little more directed if I actually had ordered Eggs Benedict this morning, but I have had them before at the Bistro Restaurant and they are just plain ol' Eggs Benedict; they are nothing to lose your religion over.

2. The Farallon Islands (or Farallones) are a small group of islands (hence the "Islands" part of their name) that are located about twenty-seven miles due west of San Francisco. With nothing between them and San Francisco, it is actually possible to see them with the naked eye on a very clear day, or so that is what Barbara Streisand is always yammering about.

Which brings us inevitably to the stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer del día:

"Farallon" or "Farallones" comes from the Spanish word "farallón", meaning "pillar" or "sea cliff". "The Sea Cliff Islands", how original; that is almost as bad as "The Bistro Restaurant at Cliff House".

2 comments:

A big "Thanks!" goes to Steve Stamatis for providing me with the correct name to one of the "???" photos above. He determined that the "Gene ???" in Photo #1 was Gene Tierney. Of course, I had to correct him and say that it was actually Gene Tunney (a male not a female). I will allow him to eat half of all the free Popovers(!) that he can handle.

(Plus it just goes to prove some friends actually read this stupid 'blog).